[HN Gopher] DYMO's new label printer uses RFID tags to prevent t...
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       DYMO's new label printer uses RFID tags to prevent the use of non-
       OEM paper
        
       Author : ortusdux
       Score  : 41 points
       Date   : 2022-02-21 21:35 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (appleinsider.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (appleinsider.com)
        
       | gjsman-1000 wrote:
       | If you are outraged by this and anti-repair laws, there's a very
       | simple solution, and that's to Repeal DMCA Section 1201.
       | 
       | Section 1201 was invented to protect DVDs primarily, and states
       | that it is a crime to circumvent DRM technologies or to share the
       | methods for circumventing DRM _regardless of intent_ unless there
       | is a Section 1201 exception, which is granted every three years
       | on a Library of Congress review.
       | 
       | Making an audio transcription of a DRM-protected eBook for your
       | blind mother who lives with you? Until recently (because the EFF
       | won a 1201 exception until 2024), illegal, even if you didn't
       | commit any copyright infringement by sharing it with other
       | people.
       | 
       | As far as I know, no other civilized nation has anti-
       | circumvention rules that do not consider intent. This rule is
       | what allows John Deere to suppress tractor repair manuals, Apple
       | to charge those who defeat their digital repair lockouts, DYMO to
       | be able to sue anyone making paper with RFID tags to beat their
       | system, and countless other fair-use activities to be restricted.
       | 
       | Repeal Section 1201. End the nonsense.
        
       | matheusmoreira wrote:
       | > However, third-party labels manufacturers and others may have
       | solid legal reasons to not offer a workaround
       | 
       | This is the real problem. Get rid of these idiotic laws designed
       | to create monopolies and stifle competition and companies that
       | pull dystopic stuff like this will be done.
        
         | monocasa wrote:
         | Luckily anti-circumvention has been found to only apply to
         | protection of copywritten works. There's probably a legally
         | safe way.
         | 
         | See how lexmark tried to sue about chip protected toner
         | cartridges using the DMCA and got slapped down by the courts. h
         | ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark_International,_Inc._v.....
        
         | daniel-cussen wrote:
         | What's the deal with the printer industry? I guess all IP
         | that's close to chemistry is highly proprietary, whether it's
         | semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, or printing.
        
         | didericis wrote:
         | I wish a political faction came out with a uniting message
         | about both getting money out of congress and repealing
         | legislation/reducing bureaucracy. When it comes to cases like
         | this, they're the same issue. The ideological blaming and
         | banner waving hides the common ground.
        
       | TehCorwiz wrote:
       | I wonder if the Keurig trick will work? You can spoof the
       | official cups by taping an old foil onto the sensor.
        
         | _joel wrote:
         | You'd expect there to be metadata including how many labels on
         | the roll, so it might break after N uses. I'd imagine there
         | would be other ways to spoof it but still, this is shoddy
         | practice.|
         | 
         | edit: Yes "Dymo touts the benefits of the chipped label paper
         | in its sales literature, including auto-detection and remaining
         | label counts."
        
         | KennyBlanken wrote:
         | Likely not, as Keurig's coffemakers had to have something that
         | would work for an offline device, with the added limitations of
         | an embedded microcontroller.
         | 
         | The RFID tag check is likely done by the driver running on the
         | host system, where a semi or fully online database check are
         | possible. Or they can just roll out a driver update for
         | mysterious "compatibility and performance improvements" if they
         | need to.
        
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       (page generated 2022-02-21 23:00 UTC)